March 2024

Dear Colleagues,

In this busy term there has been so much to celebrate across our trust.  It fills me with immense pride to read through our newsletter, brimming with stories of triumph and recognition for our schools and our learners. Your dedication, hard work, and unwavering commitment have been the driving force behind the many achievements and successes we have celebrated throughout this term, thank you to you all.


I hope you enjoy reading about the inaugural Danes Educational Trust Football Cub. Witnessing our young athletes compete with determination and sportsmanship reaffirms our commitment to providing inclusive opportunities for all our learners to thrive.


As we approach the Easter break, I encourage each and every one of you to take this time to rest, rejuvenate, and cherish moments with loved ones. 

With best wishes 

Josephine Valentine, CEO
Danes Educational Trust

Making the difference together

Baroness Barran praises OSA

Baroness Barran MBE, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School System, praised Onslow St Audrey's School (OSA) for its innovative approaches to attendance during a recent visit.

The invitation, which took place in February, provided a platform for engaging discussions on innovative methods to ensure efficient attendance.

During her visit to OSA, Baroness Barran commended its leadership on securing a favourable rating from the first comprehensive inspection since the school's integration into Danes Educational Trust.

Danes Educational Trust Football Cup

To coincide with International Women’s Day, a record-breaking 465,000 girls from 5000 schools across England signed up to take part in the FA and Barclays’ #LetGirlsPlay biggest ever football session. 

To coincide with this, we hosted the first ever ‘Danes Cup!’ an under 13 football tournament for girls from across the Trust to compete for the new Danes Educational Trust Trophy. Over 50 Girls from the Trust travelled to John Warner School to participate. 

MFL Conference: Becoming an E.P.I Teacher

On Thursday 14 March, St Clement Danes School played host to the 'Becoming an E.P.I Teacher' Language conference. Drawing in over 40 teachers from across Hertfordshire and London, the conference, organised by Mrs Floyd, was crafted to inspire teachers to adopt a new methodology in their classrooms aimed at assisting students in chunking information and reducing cognitive overload. This innovative approach acknowledges the challenges students face in processing vast amounts of information and seeks to empower teachers with practical strategies to facilitate learning effectively.

Roselands Primary School's budding engineer wins local award

Hoddesdon Rotary Club held their competition: 'What I would like to be when I grow up', last week at the local library, with finalists from three participating primary schools invited to present their essays. 

The Mayor presented certificates to all participants, however, the highlight of the evening was the announcement of the overall winner, Roseland Primary School’s Kimberly, who would receive a special day out related to her ambition.

In her winning essay, Kimberly outlined her passion for making “the world an easier and safer place to live. By becoming a civil engineer I will be able to positively impact society and make the world a better place.”

We applaud her achievement and eagerly anticipate witnessing her future successes in the field of engineering. 

International Women's Day at The John Warner School

On March 8, 50 of our students, chosen from Year 7 to 12, celebrated International Women's Day by participating in a workshop with a number of  inspiring women who were kind enough to give up their time for our girls. We were joined by John Warner alumni, Natasha Lamb, Sophie Barber, Jamie D'Ath and Callie Winch, as well as barrister, Rebecca Thomas. 

During this networking event our speakers kindly shared their experiences and wisdom and answered the students' questions. Special thanks to Callie Winch who delivered an inspiring Keynote Speech drawing on her work as an advocacy Analyst for Stemettes. Callie left The John Warner School in 2017 to study for a BA in Anthropology at UCL and went on to study for an MA in Gender, Society and Representation. She now works as an advocacy Analyst for Stemettes, an award-winning social enterprise company working across the UK & Ireland and beyond to inspire and support girls, young women and non-binary young people into Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths careers (known collectively as STEAM). Callie is also a Fellow at the Royal Society for the encouragement of arts.

Croxley Danes annual school production success

It’s been a pleasure this month to open our theatre doors to staff, students and parents to attend our annual school musical, The Addams Family. We also welcomed children from a local primary school to enjoy the dress rehearsal. The production proved to be a huge success, receiving rave reviews and selling out on all four nights! 

Students, both on stage and behind the scenes, worked incredibly hard. The quality of production, acting and singing performances throughout all the shows was outstanding. A huge well done to all who were involved. 

Thank you to our dedicated Creative Arts faculty for their unwavering dedication and thanks to the PTA for providing the evening's refreshments for all four of the shows. 

Hatfield making a difference - Building Futures assemblies

Throughout this academic year, De Havilland has endeavoured to instil in our pupils an aspiration to explore a diverse array of career options. This initiative is designed to inspire and empower the Hatfield community to contemplate an array of different career paths. Despite initial indications from pupil feedback suggesting aspirations towards careers as YouTubers, princesses and footballers, our objective has been to broaden their awareness of alternative career paths.

The organisation of these assemblies has been a collaborative effort involving various stakeholders, including parents, local businesses, St. John's Church, and connections beyond our immediate locality. Each assembly is characterised by its high level of interactivity, culminating in a comprehensive question and answer session.

Recruitment spotlight

This month, we have a number of exciting roles, including:

If you know someone who would fit any of the roles we're currently advertising, please do recommend/ refer them to us. If they are successful, as a thank you for supporting the Trust, you will receive the following.

a £250 (net payment) payable via payroll following the start of the new employee
Or
a donation of £250 to be made to a charity or cause of their choice (subject to approval by the relevant Headteacher/CEO for Central Services).

All staff (apart from HR staff across the Trust, staff involved in the hiring process, and SLT members) are eligible for the incentive. The member of staff who made the referral can choose either of the options above.